Daddy's Little Girl...
by Cyndi
Summary: This little songfic has NOTHING to do with the Believe/Reality series. This one is kind of an epilogue to my first fic "Where the Sun Rises". It's a Piccolo/Midori fic with Angel's Lullaby by Richard Marx :)


Daddy's Little Girl…

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I was never alive   
'Til the day I was blessed with you. 

The night was dark, but calm and quiet as well. The moon, which had been wished back with the one promise that it would never be completely full, cast its silvery glow over the world. The stars twinkled around the white orb as it hung in the sky. But somewhere in the city, in an apartment building, the creaking of a rocking chair could be heard.

Nobody would expect the sight they saw if they ever walked into the room where the chair was in motion. A large, tall figure sat, holding a smaller figure in their arms. The silhouette had a bald head, prominent brow ridges instead of eyebrows and antennae standing half-erect just above them. In the dim light, his skin looked a gray color, but then lights from a passing car briefly illuminated the true green color.

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When I hold you late at night,   
I know what I was put here to do.  
I turn off the world and listen to you sigh,  
And I will sing my Angel's Lullaby.

Lying in his arms was a small bundle, warm and alive. The little bundle had features like the larger figure, but there was a difference. The little figure was female. She had huge eyes the color of deep sapphires, which always had a laughing look in them. Her small fingers opened and closed slowly around the large green thumb that was just in her reach.

__

Know I'm forever near,   
The one you can always call.   
Right now all you know to fear   
Are the shadows on your wall.

Piccolo looked down at Midori when he felt her fingers wrapping around his thumb, and briefly halted the motion of the rocking chair. "Still awake?" He whispered as if he'd get an answer while passing his hand gently over her bald head. Midori gurgled softly, then jumped slightly when she saw the moving shadow as Piccolo started to rock the chair again. She sniffled, then her toothless mouth opened as she started to cry. Piccolo shifted her in his arms, pulling her closer so he could kiss away her tears. "Don't cry. I'll protect you, my little one…my little gift of the sunrise…" he smiled at the silliness of the sentimentality that still minorly irked him.

One might think Piccolo was annoyed by Midori's cries, but he wasn't. Every breath she took, every motion she made, reminded him of Agnes. He could never hate or get angry with something that had come from her.

__

I'm here, close enough   
To kiss the tears you cry,   
And I will sing my Angel's Lullaby.

Time seemed to fly…

In one moment, Piccolo was holding his beloved little girl by the hands and walking her around the house. All of a sudden, without warning, Midori broke free of her father's grasp and took her first steps. Piccolo watched her totter unsteadily, then looked down at his empty hands and sighed. _My little girl…_ he thought as he watched her, knowing that once she mastered walking, she wouldn't need him to get around. It almost hurt, knowing that she would someday not need to depend on him anymore.

In another moment, Piccolo stood out in the valley, watching Midori mastering the art of flying. She wasn't half-bad, even when she crashed into a lake while trying to do tricks.

"Not a single word!" She pouted as she climbed out with her pride being the only part of her that was injured.

Another second in time passed, or at least it seemed that way to Piccolo. 

Young Midori, probably not much more than eleven or twelve years old, came rushing out of the bathroom. "Daddy!" 

"Midori? What's the matter?" Piccolo looked up from his meditation, not liking to see her unhappy. He was just in time to have Midori grab his hand and haul him into the bathroom.

"Look!" Midori pointed at the blood in the toilet. "I'm bleeding!"

Piccolo chuckled half-heartedly as he put the toilet seat down, having read about what happens to females when they're mature. "Midori, it's OK…" He passed his hand gently over the top of her head, holding her hands as he sat down on the toilet seat and started to explain what was happening. All the while, he just kept thinking of how she was growing up so fast.

Just as before, the years seemed to pass like minutes. It had been many years since Dende had been brought to Earth. He and Midori had become close friends almost right away after Cell was defeated.

Piccolo came in for a landing on Kami's Lookout, looking for his rather elusive teenage daughter. He rounded a corner and was just in time to see Dende take Midori's face into his hands, lean forward and kiss her tenderly for the first time. Midori's arms came up and wrapped around his neck as she leaned in to kiss him back.

Closing his eyes as he remembered the day he kissed Agnes like that, Piccolo slipped back around the corner and stood with his back against the wall. He felt like he was about to cry, but didn't know why. Perhaps it was the knowledge that his little girl was moving away from his arms and into the arms of someone that may someday become her husband.

__

So tell me how to stop the years from racing.   
Is there a secret someone knows?

Another moment slipped by, leading up to a very precious day. Piccolo stood in the doorway, just staring at Midori in that strapless white dress, those elbow-length white gloves and that sparkling white veil. There were tears in his eyes, and the wedding hadn't even started yet!

Midori smiled over at her father when she saw him there. "Hi daddy…how do I look?"

Keeping a stiff upper lip, Piccolo strode into the peach and powder-scented room with a pink carpeting. He reached out and brushed his fingertip across Midori's rose-petal soft cheek, "No words can describe the way you look right now, Midori…" He sighed as a single tear managed to make it's escape down his cheek, "Just look at you. All grown up…You're not my little girl anymore."

Her smile turned to a grin as she shifted her bouquet to one hand and wrapped her free arm around his neck, kissing the tear away, "I'll always be your little girl, daddy."

Piccolo smiled as he held her, remembering how it used to feel when he held her as a baby. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of an organ. He shook off his emotions and looked over at Midori, "Well, it's time…"

She grinned that impish grin once again and held his hand as he walked through the door and out into the church where everyone was waiting to see the beautiful bride. Piccolo held Midori's hand tightly as he walked with her down the aisle. At the other end, dressed nicely in a tux, Dende stood waiting. He was staring dreamily at the woman who would soon be his beloved wife, and he had to smile at her and wink to keep from dashing down to kiss her right there.

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I'll never catch all the memories I'm chasing.   
I'll never be ready to let go.

Knowing he couldn't stall anymore as he reached the end of the aisle, Piccolo kissed Midori's cheek, gave her hand one last squeeze, then gently placed it into Dende's. He just stepped back and watched the ceremony, barely even hearing any of the words being said. All he could do was look at the love the two held for each other in their eyes, and wonder if he really used to look at Agnes that way.

The silence was broken by loud applause, and Piccolo looked up to see Dende and Midori sealing their marriage with a kiss. He let a small sigh escape along with another glittering tear as he watched Dende whisper something that made Midori's eyes go wide. 

His little girl had grown up.

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And when the world seems cold,   
And you feel that all of your strength is gone

Midori's screams could be heard all over the hospital. No training could prepare her for the pain she was in now, and Piccolo cringed at the thought that he couldn't be in there to hold her the way he used to do when she was a baby. Knowing that his little girl was in pain seemed to make him hurt too, and he sighed as he looked out the window at the beautiful sunrise.

Ten minutes later, he was standing in a small room, looking down at Midori's impish grin. Dende was asleep in the chair next to the bed, so Piccolo simply stood at his daughter's bedside and glowered down at her as she cradled the tiny bundle in her arms. It was taking everything he had to avoid letting his emotions show.

"Daddy…there's someone I'd like you to meet…" Midori whispered, moving the blanket away from the baby's face to reveal a blue-eyed baby boy with features that seemed to be a mix of both Piccolo and Dende. "This is your grandson…" She smiled impishly, "I named him after you. Piccolo Jr."

__

Figures. Piccolo thought, _she thinks just like Agnes did._

Lowering his arms, he whispered with a slightly trembling lower lip, "Can I hold him for awhile?" Midori smiled, nodded and allowed Piccolo to take his grandson into his arms. Almost the moment he felt that warm bundle of life in his arms, Piccolo felt himself lose all control of his emotions, especially when the baby smiled up at him. "Midori…he's perfect…" As soon as he'd uttered those words, he smiled, and tears began to escape down his cheeks.

Piccolo Jr. grasped the edge of the blanket he was swaddled in and started to gurgle softly at his grandpa, telling him that he wanted to be held close. Piccolo, understanding this language all-to-well, smiled through his tears and held the tiny and helpless form close to his heart.

__

There may be one tiny voice,   
Your reason to carry on.

Standing alone in the valley, Piccolo watched as Dende and Midori flew away with Piccolo Jr. They were heading for Kami's Lookout(the name of the place never did seem to change), where Midori was moving in. Since Piccolo never used anything in the house, he stopped using it and returned to live out in the valley.

Finally, after taking his time to take off, Piccolo followed the new family to help Midori unpack. It didn't take too long, but watching Dende try to put a crib together without the directions resulted in a lot of laughter.

Night soon fell, and Piccolo was about to leave when he decided to check up on Midori one more time before heading off. He crept into the main building on the Lookout and turned left, opening the door a crack so he could peek in. What Piccolo saw brought a smile to his lips, especially when the same creaking rhythm he used to love filtered into his ears.

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And when I'm not close enough   
To kiss the tears you cry  
You will sing your Angel's Lullaby.

There, sitting in the same old rocking chair that her father once did, Midori was rocking Piccolo Jr. gently to sleep. Piccolo Jr. was yawning as he clutched her thumb in his tiny fingers.

"I love you, Midori and Piccolo Jr." Piccolo whispered as he quietly pulled the door shut without going in. "You've made me so proud…" With those words, he quietly walked to the edge of the Lookout and flew away to return to the life he had once known before Agnes.

But the mighty Piccolo would never be the same again. For twenty years, he had known pure joy, and he would continue to feel it whenever he came by to visit his new family.

__

Let this be our Angel's Lullaby…


End file.
